Dear friends in Christ

In the second reading of the Mass this Sunday Saint Paul reveals that he was beset with a suffering, the nature of which has been the cause of much speculation down the centuries. Some believe it was a physical affliction, others the suffering he endured through persecution, and others again a powerful temptation or moral weakness. Whatever it was, Saint Paul asked repeatedly that God would remove this from him. He received this answer in reply: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. God's help is sufficient for him to overcome that difficulty; at the same time we are given to know about the divine power that enabled him to overcome it. He becomes stronger when he relies on God's help, and this causes him to explain: For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong. In our own weaknesses we too constantly experience the need to turn towards God and draw on the strength that comes to us from Him. God so often has said to us deep in our hearts: My grace is sufficient for you, you have my help to enable you to overcome all problems and difficulties and anxieties. God always draws good from our trials. It may be very far in the future that we know the good that God has done for us, and perhaps it will only be in eternity, that we see the results of our problems and sufferings on this earth. God gives us all the grace to persevere in whatever He asks of us or sends us during this brief time of our sojourn here below.

With every blessing for his coming week!

Msgr Kevin Hale